Month: March 2013

Well, it’s official. We had an early spring break–the week of March 11-15. I decided that one of my tasks over the break would be to write my resignation/retirement letter. As I sat down to write it, I realized I could write a novel after 29 years of teaching, 28 of them in McAllen ISD. Instead, I wrote a simple letter, addressed to my new principal and the assistant superintendent over personnel. Here is the body of that letter:

It doesn’t seem possible that 30 years ago this summer, I moved to McAllen to begin my teaching career in the City of Palms. I can still remember the tears flowing down my face as my dad and our family friends drove off, leaving me behind to begin this new chapter in my life, teaching students in McAllen ISD’s Regional School for the Deaf.

Other than a one-year detour in Brownsville ISD, I have spent my entire teaching career in McAllen ISD. I am deeply committed to the children of our district and to this city I love; however, there comes a time when one chapter of life ends and another begins. That time has arrived for me.

Thus, it is with both nostalgia and excitement that I tender my resignation, effective May 31, 2013, the final day of the 2012-2013 school year.

I am grateful to McAllen ISD for opening its doors to a brand new teacher from Illinois and for providing me with the opportunity to teach (and to learn from) countless amazing students, to meet so many dedicated parents, and to work with a plethora of loyal and supportive colleagues.

I ended the letter with “housecleaning,” asking them to inform me if I needed to submit anything else.
I submitted the letter last Tuesday. Thursday, I received a letter in the mail informing me that my resignation, effective our last day of school May 31, had been accepted.

And just like that, it was official. (More next time on my feelings, then and now.)